5 As Jesus went into Capernaum, a centurion came up to Him,
begging Him,6 And saying, Lord, my servant boy is lying at the house paralyzed
and [a]distressed with intense pains.7 And Jesus said to him, I will come and restore him.8 But the centurion replied to Him, Lord, I am not worthy or fit
to have You come under my roof; but only speak the word, and my servant boy
will be cured.9 For I also am a man subject to authority, with soldiers subject
to me. And I say to one, Go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes;
and to my slave, Do this, and he does it.10 When Jesus heard him, He marveled and said to those who
followed Him [[b]who adhered steadfastly to Him, conforming to His example in
living and, if need be, in dying also], I tell you truly, I have not found so
much faith as this [c]with anyone, even in Israel.11 I tell you, many will come from east and west, and will sit at
table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,12 While the sons and heirs of the kingdom will be driven out into
the darkness outside, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.13 Then to the centurion Jesus said, Go; it shall be done for you
as you have believed. And the servant boy was restored to health at that very
[d]moment.

Thank you for being part of the prayer vigil at Minneapolis Public School (MPS) headquarters last Sunday, August 23. The strong voices and the broad range of ages, races, and faith traditions in the crowd of nearly 200 sent a strong message to school leadership that people from all across the metro area are prepared to stand in solidarity with the children of color who are unfairly impacted by the harsh disciplinary practices being used in some Minneapolis schools today. Photos of the event can be seen at the Facebook page here.

As powerful as the vigil was, we have to remember it was only the first step in our campaign to transform the Minneapolis Public School system into one that treats all children as sacred and supports all teachers who are there to help them learn. You are invited to take the next step by joining ISAIAH at the first meeting of the MPS Board of Directors for the 2015-16 school year, which takes place at 5:30 pm on Tuesday, September 8 at the very same place where we held the vigil, the Davis Center at 1250 W. Broadway Ave. in Minneapolis. At the beginning of the meeting, there is an opportunity for community members to address the Board and, at that time, we will reiterate our six demands for repairing our relationship with children of color:

1. Reinstate the moratorium on suspensions and expand it to all elementary school grades.

2. Devote funding to resources that will help children with traumatic histories stay in a classroom environment, rather than spending it on resources for policing children of color. Ensure that all schools have trauma-informed instruction, mental health counselors, and restorative practice support staff rather than spending money on School Resource Officers.

3. Full implementation of the Positive School Engagement Plan, particularly the Behavior Standards Policy.